“Everyone here is Taiwanese,” remarked an English fellow whose been living in Taiwan for seven years. We were at a dinner party and I was, as usual, surrounded by Taiwanese folks. He was saying that no matter if you’re family is from an indigenous tribe, part of one of the earlier waves of Fujian people 200 or 300 years ago, or came with KMT in 1949, everyone thinks of themselves as Taiwanese. With a raised eyebrow, I assured him he […]

“You and your sarcasm,” my dad often said with a huff. He had no need for it and never understood how essential using it was in American society. Sarcasm roughly refers to saying a statement about a person, situation, or object but meaning the exact opposite. For example, if you go to a party that’s dead, you might say to your friend,”Fun party” then both of you head for the door. Even though you are saying “fun party”, you mean […]